The problem of Evil (why is there bad stuff in the world?)

There are many long and short answers to the Problem of Evil. One thing is for sure - it has been answered logically, from the Biblical perspective at least. That doesn't mean everyone is going to agree or feel inclined to accept that 'evil' is not a problem at all for adherents to the Bible. But certainly the cries of 'you can't answer this!' should stop. Here's my own thoughts on the topic:

Choices such as to do good or evil, are not creations (like creating an 'evil being'). A choice is bound in time and space and only occurs at the split second in which it occurs. The choice is the creation of only he or she or whatever had that choice. No one else is responsible. This is something certain people seem to not mentally grasp.

When God created His creation, He gave us choice to act according to our wishes. He gave us our own 'wills'. This is often called free will. The world that we are in also allows that free will to be used - there are no rules such as the 'justice zone' in Red Dwarf where evil you try to do to others will not happen to them, but will happen to you. If you could not use your free will, then it is not really free will at all, and in fact is useless.

There is no possible, logical way to both control beings and force them not to 'do evil', whilst allowing them to be their 'own man' and to have freedom of choice. If choice is not present, that is; if there is no possible way for me to commit a murder and kill you right now if I so choose to, then nobody is free, there is no choice, and we are no better than robots programmed by a programmer, to do only option A but never option B. Again; some people seem unwilling to accept this, but it is true and can be defined using logic chains.

If there is no option, then there IS no freedom. What's the point in being free to act in only one way.

You are only free to choose to do good (or not to do evil, to word it differently), if there is the possibility that you can and could choose to do evil (or not to do good).

Therefore, evil is not a problem, it is not even a creation. It is an option that created beings have, which makes them free and even human.

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Summary:God did not create evil, He created choice and sometimes choice gives birth to evil, and sometimes to good. Trying to lay the blame of 'evil acts' on God is like blaming your grandparents for producing their grand children, only on a far grander scale!

Sadly in the world, especially today with the increasing media and the increasing evil men do to each other (both of which I believe are happening), people who are not living according to the 'best fit' plan God laid out for us in the scriptures called The Bible are far from doing His will and this is called sin. This is anything which is outside the perfect will of God, and it causes death and suffering.

When we ask 'why do bad things happen in the world?' the answer is simple. Bad things are happening because of sin. In fact, the Bible actually explains this very frankly. It does have an answer which fits the shoe of what we see around us every day, but many don't want to think about the possibility that a) God is there b) he is sovreign (which means He rules) and c) that He's set a standard which we as His creation need to stand by as much as we can.

Also, consider this unappealing notion. If you don't consider God's word authoritive, or worse still don't consider God a reality, then in actual fact you have no right to call anyone or anything evil. Nothing is truely wrong or evil except in a subjective sense, unless there is an external law-giver. Internal rights and wrongs change socially all the time and therefore cannot be truely 'correct'. If one society considers killing acceptable to solve arguments, who are we so say they're wrong --- unless God already said it is wrong, in which case we have every right to say that it's wrong, because it's in His word (The Bible).

On a more cheery note, God has also said in His Word that He is going to deal with evil-doers once and for all, and has set that time in stone. There will be a dealing with evil once and for all time, and until that time, God allows us the choice and the freedom to act, has given us His Word to guide our hearts & lives, and will not snuff out all evil doers straight away; which would mean every single last one of us (since God's Holy standard of what is evil is much higher than our standard).